The first rock and roll Christmas song was not classified as a rock and roll song when it was released. Bobby Helms was a country singer who had a pair of No. 1 hits on the country charts before the song he’s remembered for was released in 1957. It was released just two days before the holiday but still reached No. 13 on the country chart, and crossed over to reach No. 6 on the national sales chart. It charted again when re-released in both 1958 and 1960.
Credit for the song is assigned by copyright to Joseph Beal, a PR man, and James Boothe, and ad copywriter, but Helms and, especially, session guitarist Hank Garland have always disputed that. Garland, who fought for royalties until his death in 2004, recalled a midnight Decca recording session in 1957 when Producer Owen Bradley came to him with “Jingle Bell Hop.” “I let it hop back to where it came from,” Garland recalled in his twilight years. “It wasn’t any good.”
Helms’ recollection was similar. “‘I really didn’t want to cut it because it was such a bad song. So me and [Garland] worked on it for about an hour putting a melody to it and we put a bridge to it.”
When Daryl Hall and John Oates recorded the song as a stand-alone single in 1983, they produced two different versions — one with Hall singing lead, the other with Oates. Both videos feature the band members dressed as the singer’s family, and special kudos go to guitarist G.E. Smith for playing Granny in both.
